Guest Designer Spotlight: Nicole Harper

I am thrilled to introduce you to our December Guest Designer, Nicole Harper!

Nicole’s work is so beautiful– and her gallery for us this month is simply incredible.  Her layouts always are so COLORFUL and fun.  Her photography and journaling are so heartfelt and honest.  Nicole currently designs for October Afternoon and Glitz Design.  It was a pleasure for Elle and I to meet Nicole at Summer CHA and we are so delighted to have her as our Guest Designer for Celebrate December!  Thank you Nicole for joining us this month!

Name: Nicole Harper
location: Cleveland, OH
blog: seriouslybrains.blogspot.com
twitter: @brains32192

Why did you start scrapbooking and how did you get started?

I began scrapbooking in 1999 when our daughter was born.  Kept up with it for about 6 months, until she became mobile lol… took a few years off and picked up where I left off when she was about 6 years old.  I knew I wanted to document her milestones etc with more than just a photo album… so it began. 🙂

What are three products you can’t live without?

Stamps, Ledger/Graph Paper, Die Cuts

What do yo listen to/watch while scrapbooking?

My current iTunes playlist.  It’s pretty eclectic: Maroon5, Jay-Z, One Direction, Justin Timberlake, Matchbox 20, Neil Diamond… there is a bit of everything in there!

What is your favorite color combination?

Grey is always a must… I usually reach for some red/yellow/teal to pair with it.  ðŸ™‚

5.  Do you record every moment or just special ones? 

I haven’t recoreded “traditional” moments/events fora very long time.  With a 13 year old daughter, I’m finding that I am enjoying our day to day adventures more and more… so I typically record those.  I am big on journaling… without it, it seems like you just have a fancy photo album an so I always have my worlds somewhere on every project I make.

6.  What is your favorite thing about scrapbooking? 

That I can walk into my office at home and find our daughter curled up on the floor with an open scrapbook or two on her lap… inevitably she turns around and asks a question about whatever page she is on, and we usually laugh about it together.  I get a kick out of that, and it makes my heart happy to know that she wandered in there herself to flip through past adventures.

7. What are three facts about you that other’s might now know?  

hmmm, let me think.

  • I skipped a grade, and was always the youngest in my class.  I graduated high school just after I turned 17.
  • My full time job is in the medical field and I love what I do. 
  • I am married to my high school sweetheart… he’s a keeper. 🙂

Today we are giving away three of Nicole’s favorite Elle’s Studio items!

Leave a comment here for your chance to win our Exclusive Christmas Stamp Set, The Sweet Life Cutouts, and Be Merry Tidbits!

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Project Life: Documenting Tradition

This week’s Project Life covers the week of November 19-25: Thanksgiving week!

One of the things I love most about Project Life is that you can have photos from the most treasured traditions right next to the “every day” photos… and it all makes perfect sense.

The Holiday Season is full of tradition.  And it’s also full of every day moments.  As I approach this month in my album, I aim to balance the two in a well-rounded way.   I want to allow my album to TRULY reflect what life is like in our household— the holidays, the traditions, the pick up soccer games, the ripped jeans, and the cracked ornaments and broken iPad moments.  All of it is life.

The left side of the page focuses mostly on Thanksgiving.   Unfortunately I didn’t take a lot of pictures on Thanksgiving Day– I decided to put the camera down and enjoy the family time!  However, the few photos I did got, I made them work for my album.

There was a picture I took of my grandmother on Thanksgiving Day (above).  I decided to journal a bit about how my grandma is ALWAYS the one to pick out the turkey for Thanksgiving.  She has shopped the same meat market in Indianapolis for decades.  Not only that, I have noticed that every year, in the days leading up to Thanksgiving, she ALWAYS comments on the weight of the turkey she buys for our extended family.  This year it was a 26 pounder!

On the right side I included an insert about our Thanksgiving weekend tradition– finding our Christmas tree.  This is a tradition that began four years ago.  We have been going to the same tree farm with close friends of ours to choose a live Christmas tree.  We always start the adventure by meeting at Starbucks for hot chocolate, and we end the day by eating dinner at a BBQ restaurant afterwards.

I used a Project Life pocket page trimmed in half and made an insert specific to our tree-hunting expedition.
A few things I saved to help tell the story of this tradition (aside from photos:) included the sleeve of my Starbucks cup, some rope that tied the christmas tree to our car, and the receipt from our BBQ dinner afterwards.  These are just bits and pieces that remind me of this cherished tradition.

Of course Thanksgiving week provides sweet artwork that comes home in my children’s backpacks– I had to include that too.

Finally, on the right page I included some everyday moments– like the fact that my son ALWAYS gets a hole in right knee of every pair of pants he owns.  And also the day we decorated our tree, we had one broken ornament (a favorite) and a cracked iPad.  Ouch.  But they are real life moments.

I hope this gives you a few ideas on how to document your Holiday traditions and combine them with the everyday moments!

Congrats to Tarrah McLean  the winner of last week’s Prize Pack.   Please email michelle@shopellesstudio.com the following info to claim your prize:

Name/Address:

Contest: PL Nov 27
Prize: prize pack

Project Life was created by Becky Higgins as a way to simplify how you document life and preserve memories. Photo pockets used in my Project Life album are created by Becky and can be found here.  You can read of all the Elle’s Studio Project Life posts here.

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Celebrate December with Lisa Dickinson

Welcome to Celebrate December at Elle’s Studio!  The month of December will be packed with Holiday Inspiration, projects, layouts, and gift ideas from many talented designers.  Be sure to check the Elle’s Studio blog everyday for prizes, giveaways, and inspiration!

Today we have the perfect teacher gift idea from Lisa Dickinson.  Lisa was on the Elle’s Studio Design Team in 2011 and we are delighted to have her back as a part of our Celebrate December event.  I am always so inspired by Lisa’s designs!  The Holiday Wreath and Gift Card holder she created is PERFECT for teachers, hairdressers, and friends.  She even included a tutorial so you can create this too for your holiday giving.   Thank you Lisa!

This cute little wreath is a perfect adornment for a teacher’s gift!  I’ve used it to decorate a bag of coffee, and included a gift card attached to the bag as an additional surprise.  It’s simple to make and once the gift is opened it can be used as an ornament or decoration for the holidays.
Supplies:
plastic lid from an oatmeal container
6-8 ft. of 1″ tinsel garland
Elle’s Studio Be Merry Lil’ Snippets: Wishlist
Elle’s Studio Be Merry Cutout
Elle’s Studio Be Merry Tidbits 
Elle’s Studio Be Merry Numbers
Elle’s Studio Be Merry Journaling Tags
Green Cardstock
Die cut machine or punches
3 small brads
8″ of red gingham ribbon (about 1/4″ wide)
12″ green grosgrain ribbon (about 1″ wide)
hot glue gun
stapler
scissors
scotch tape
1.  Cute a 2.5″ hole from the center of a plastic lid (I used an oatmeal lid). Staple the end of the garland to the plastic and begin winding around the lid until the plastic is covered.
2.  Punch or cut petals for poinsettias from green card stock and various Elle’s Studio tags.  (I used the 3D Poinsettia file from the Silhouette Studio Store.)  You’ll need 2 green petals, 3 patterned petals and one small circle for each poinsettia.  Assemble the flowers by stacking the petals from largest on bottom to smallest on top and attach with a brad.
3. Use a hot glue gun to adhere the 3 poinsettia flowers to the wreath.
4. To hang the wreath, wrap the red gingham ribbon around the top edge.  Tie a bow with the green grosgrain ribbon and adhere it on the top of the red gingham with hot glue.
5.  Attach the wreath to the top of the bag of coffee by taping the ends of the ribbon with scotch tape:
6.  Trim down one of the Elle’s Studio journaling tags and punch the top edge with a scallop punch.  Adhere the bottom and side edges to the coffee bag.  Once dry, slip a gift card behind the tag.  
You could also attach the wreath to a bottle of sparkling cider and include a restaurant gift card. Or tie it to the handle of a coffee mug filled with your teacher’s favorite candy. There are lots of possibilities for this cute little decoration!
Today we are giving away a Celebrate December prize pack!  Leave a comment on this post and we will draw a random winner to receive this prize pack full of Elle’s Studio goodies!

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Celebrate December with Allison Waken

Welcome to Celebrate December at Elle’s Studio!  The month of December will be packed with holiday inspiration, projects, layouts, and gift ideas from many talented designers.  So, make sure to check the Elle’s Studio blog every day for prizes, giveaways, and inspiration!

Today we have a beautiful advent calendar to share with you from Allison Waken.  Allison was an Elle’s Studio Design Team member in 2011 and we are thrilled to have her back for Celebrate December. She has a such a fun, funky, and graphic style that we adore (and know you will too).

Hi!  Allison here to share with you one of my favorite December projects– our advent calendar.
Well, I use the term “calendar” lightly. It’s more of a Christmas countdown mini album made of envelopes.
Inside each envelope we put a card with a fun activity to do together as a family, or cludes to find a hidden special price (like a LEGO mini figure or a new Christmas book).
Each day my boys can see how many days are left until Christmas before they take out their activity card for the day.
I had fun mixing and layering the Be Merry tags and exclusive Elle’s stamps!  Keeping in mind that this would be handled by the kids (and hopefully for more than one year) I tried to staple most elements down while the others are glued very well.

 We love this different type of advent calendar using kraft and white envelopes along with our Be Merry Numbers.  Thank you for joining us today Allison!

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Celebrate December Inspiration Gallery Reveal!

 

Are you ready to Celebrate December with us all month long? We are kicking off our BIG event today with our December Inspiration Gallery that was put together by our awesome design team and our amazing guest designer! Here’s a tiny peek at some of the incredible things they created:

Hop on over to our Inspiration Gallery to take a peek at all their projects – there’s 38 different projects to get you inspired for all your holiday creating. This month we are also welcoming Nicole Harper as our guest designer, too! We feel so blessed to have her apart of the gallery this month – her work is so beautiful and she is such a sweetie, too 🙂 We’ll get to know her a little better in our Guest Designer post coming later on, so be on the look out for that!

And, we have a special giveaway for you guys today, too! Make sure you log in and leave some comments on our design team and guest designers December layouts – we’ll be drawing one lucky commenter to win the Celebrate December prize pack we’ve put together – it’s packed full of items from our Be Merry line, our exclusive Christmas stamp, and MORE! The more comments you leave, the bigger of a chance you have to win! We’ll draw the winner and post it here on Saturday, December 8th.

We’ll see you back here tomorrow, as our Celebrate December event continues! 

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A special giveaway from The Paper Bakery

The holidays are upon us! Why not give yourself the gift of handmade? The Paper Bakery is giving you that chance!

The Paper Bakery is featuring a giveaway of our popular December Daily! Our December Daily album goes until the very end of the month so you don’t miss out on any December memories. Included in this kit is EVERYTHING you need to make this beautiful kit (aside from basic supplies such as scissors and adhesive). You will also receive a full set of colored, detailed instructions to help you complete the kit.

Head on over to The Paper Bakery’s shop for additional photos and a full list of what is provided in the kit~a $42 Value!! While you’re there, snoop around our shop and think about becoming a member… our club is pretty awesome if I do say so myself! We offer project kits, scrapbook kits, and mixed media kits.

To win this fabulous kit go to The Paper Bakery’s facebook page, “like” us, and leave a comment about your favorite part of the December Daily. The giveaway will run until December 2 and they will ship out the winner’s kit first thing Monday morning. The lucky winner will be chosen at random.

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Pin To Win – Winners!

We have THREE winners to announce from our Pin to Win contest! We had so much fun going through everyone’s board and seeing what you pinned – be on the lookout for more of these contests in the future!

The three winners are: 
Kim W with pinboard: http://pinterest.com/kmwarne/elle-s-studio-wish-list/
Janet Murie with pinboard: http://pinterest.com/janniecre8s/elle-s-studio-wish-list/
Candice Stears (via email entry) with pinboard: http://pinterest.com/candi_pin/elle-s-studio-wish-list/ 

Congrats! You’ve won the items that are on your pinboard and currently in-stock at our site! Please email us (michelle@shopellesstudio.com) by December 5th, 2012, with the following info:
Name:
Address:
Contest: Pin to Win

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Thursday Sketch 11.29

Welcome back to Sketch Thursday! We have a simple but fun sketch today, with plenty of room for interpretation.

Our current DT member, Jennifer, accepted the challenge this week and created this amazing layout:

When I saw the sketch, I loved the spread of paper fully across the page. I’d just gotten an 8×12 photo printed of the Turkey Day 5K, plus some smaller photos, so I flipped the sketch to use the photo as the long strip of background paper. I pushed the journaling down lower, and I hand stitched the scallops. Fun sketch, and so versatile! -Jennifer
Supplies used:

While we’d still LOVE for you to participate in the sketches we’re going to give everyone a chance to win an Elle’s Studio prize pack! Just leave a comment here. We truly appreciate you taking the time to leave us a little love 🙂 

Last week’s randomly selected winner is… Rita with her Crociera Fluviale layout. Congratulations!! Please email michelle@shopellesstudio.com the following info to claim your prize:


Name/Address:

Contest: Sketch 11.22.12
Prize: prize pack
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Documented

This is one of my favorite scrapbooking layouts I’ve made this season – I just love everything it captures: the beautiful tree at my mom and dad’s, the colors of the season, and most of all, that BIG smile on my favorite little guy!

But today, I wanted to focus on what the journaling captured for our new Documented series here at our blog. As I started to brainstorm what I wanted to share, I first thought of writing something about how I adore my nephew so much, or how I love that smile of his – but I have other layouts that already say all that. For this layout, I wanted to capture the memory from that day and what it took to get this cute photo.

The journaling reads: “Grandma was behind me making noises so you’d smile… Your mom was holding you up because this was before you could sit on your own… and I was taking photos as fast as possible!”

I love how when you read this journaling it takes you right back to the day, right back to that moment. And, for those who weren’t there, now they can envision in their heads what we were doing, and how silly we must have looked.

We loved hearing what you guys wanted us to cover in this new series in our last post. If you have any more input, we’d love to hear it!

p.s. Click here to see how I made those tissue ruffles.

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Project Life

This week’s Project Life features the week of November 5- November 11.

It was a full week with the Election, a book release, a wedding, discovering a big hole in a little girls blankie, and activities at school– yes it was a full week!

I included an email from my dad as an insert on the right side.  His perspective in life is such an encouragement to me and what he wrote was something I wanted to include in my album.  (Just a note: I contemplated blurring out pieces of this spread that represented any political views I might have, but I also deeply value transparency and allowing this album to represent me and my life.  I completely respect opposing political views and  feel blessed to be able to live in a country where I can document my thoughts and opinions. 🙂 
 
The election provided many opportunities to include bits and pieces in my album.  I included my voting sticker, a VIP pass for the victory party for the Indiana governor, and some photos and thoughts from the day.

On the back side of the insert I included a panoramic photo taken with a free iPhone app : DMD Panoramic.  It’s pretty neat app for those of us who do not have an iPhone 5.  (sniff, sniff:).
I printed the photo as an 8×12 from Mpix.com and trimmed the photo to just show the print.   

On the right side of the page I included more bit’s and pieces — and award my son received at school, a part of the wedding invitation, and a gift card that I spent that week.

Congrats to Carol the winner of last week’s Prize Pack.   Please email michelle@shopellesstudio.com the following info to claim your prize:

Name/Address:

Contest: PL Nov 20

Prize: prize pack


Today we have a giveaway!   Leave a comment here for a chance to win an Elle’s Studio Prize Pack.  The winner will be announced next Tuesday!

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